The federal judiciary has seen a surge in proceedings for reduction of sentences pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), primarily as a result of Amendment 706 to the Guidelines, which amended § 2D1.1 to provide a two-level reduction in the base offense level for crack cocaine offenses, and which the United States Sentencing Commission made retroactive. However, in a blow to defendants’ rights in such proceedings, the Eleventh Circuit in United States v. Webb, No. 00-00066-CR-1-1 (11th Cir. Apr. 13, 2009) has held that defendants possess no mandatory right to counsel in sentence reduction proceedings pursuant to § 3582(c)(2) under either the Fifth or Sixth Amendments. The Court’s holding comes in spite of its earlier holdings that § 3582(c)(2) motions are a continuation of a criminal case, and that motions for reduction of sentence pursuant to a retroactive amendment in the Sentencing Guidelines are clearly a challenge to the original sentence.
Webb was convicted in 2000 of conspiracy to possess and attempt to possess more than fifty grams of cocaine base and large quantities of cocaine hydrochloride, id. at 2. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, Webb’s base offense level was 38 under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c), however the district court found that he was also a career offender and that his total offense level was 42, but the court departed downward from the recommended range of 360 months to life and sentenced Webb to 264 months. Id. at 2-3.
In 2008, Webb filed a pro se motion to reduce his sentence pursuant to § 3582(c)(2) pursuant to Amendment 706. Id. at 3. The court denied Webb’s motion, finding that even if Webb’s offense level was lowered from 42 to 40 pursuant to Amendment 70, his sentencing range would still be 360 months to life, and he was therefore not eligible for a § 3582(c)(2) reduction. Id. Webb did receive a reduction in his sentence pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(a), however. Id. Webb appealed. Id.
The Eleventh Circuit cited its previous decision in United States v. Bravo, 203 F.3d 778 (11th Cir. 2000), in which it stated that, in determining whether to reduce a sentence pursuant to § 3582(c)(2), a district court must first recalculate the sentence based upon the amended Guidelines, leaving all other original sentencing determinations unchanged. Id. at 6 (citing Bravo, at 780; United States v. Moreno, 421 F.3d 1217, 1220 (11th Cir. 2005)). The court then may choose to impose the newly calculated sentence or to keep the original sentence, and should make its choice in light of the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Id. The Court also noted that U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a) provides that a sentence may be reduced only where “‘the guideline range applicable to that defendant has subsequently been lowered as a result of an amendment…” Id. at 5-6 (emphasis added) (quoting U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)).
Based upon these rules, the Court of Appeals found that the district court did not err in denying Webb’s § 3582(c)(2) motion since, although his offense level would have reduced his offense level from 42 to 40, this reduction would not have reduced Webb’s sentencing range, and the district court therefore had no authority to reduce his sentence or to consider the § 3553(a) factors.Id. The Court also held that Booker is “inapplicable” to § 3582(c)(2) motions for reduction of sentence because it is “‘a Supreme Court decision, not a retroactively applicable guideline amendment by the Sentencing Commission.’” Id. at 6-7 (quoting Moreno, at 1220–21).
More importantly, however, Webb also argued that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by refusing to appoint an attorney to represent him on his § 3582(c)(2) motion. Id. at 7. The Court noted that the issue of whether there was a mandatory right to counsel in § 3582(c)(2) reduction of sentence hearings was a matter of first impression for the Court. Id. at 8. Despite the fact that the Court acknowledged that it had found § 3582(c)(2) motions to be “‘a continuation of a criminal case’” rather than “‘a civil post-conviction action’” like a petition for habeas corpus, id. at 8-9 (citing United States v. Fair, 326 F.3d 1317, 1318 (11th Cir. 2003) (per curiam)), the Court followed the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits’ view that a § 3582(c)(2) motion is merely a petition for a district court to exercise leniency to give a defendant the benefit of an Amendment to the Guidelines, rather than a challenge to the appropriateness of the original sentence, id. at 9 (quoting United States v. Whitebird, 55 F.3d 1007, 1011 (5th Cir. 1995)). “A defendant bringing such a motion thus would not be eligible for the Sixth Amendment rights that would normally attach in a sentencing or resentencing hearing.” Id. (citing Whitebird, 55 F.3d at 1011; United States v. Townsend, 98 F.3d 510, 512–13 (9th Cir. 1996)). The Court continued on to hold that the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment likewise did not provide a mandatory right to counsel in sentence reduction hearings pursuant to since Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 43(b)(4) provides that such a hearing may be held without the defendant himself being present. Id. at 10 (citing Fed.R.Crim.P. 43(b)(4)). Lastly, the Court held that 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(c), which provides for a right to counsel in criminal proceedings, “including ancillary matters appropriate to the proceedings,” id. at 10 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(c)), provided no right to counsel, since it found that the right to counsel conferred by the statute extended “to matters that are part of the original action, such as sentencing and resentencing, but not to challenges to a defendant’s sentence, as would be the case in a § 3582(c)(2) motion.” Id. at 11 (citing Whitebird, at 1010–11).
